Automated test equipment (ATE) can be any testing assembly that performs a test on a device, semiconductor wafer or die, etc. ATE assemblies may be used to execute automated tests that quickly perform measurements and generate test results that can then be analyzed. An ATE assembly may be anything from a computer system coupled to a meter, to a complicated automated test assembly that may include a custom, dedicated computer control system and many different test instruments that are capable of automatically testing electronics parts and/or semiconductor. Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) is commonly used within the field of electrical chip manufacturing. ATE systems both reduce the amount of time spent on testing devices to ensure that the device functions as designed and serve as a diagnostic tool to determine the presence of faulty components within a given device before it reaches the consumer.
In testing devices or products, e.g. after production, it is crucial to achieve among others a high product quality, an estimation of the device or product performance, a feedback concerning the manufacturing process and finally a high customer contentment. Usually a plurality of tests is performed in order to ensure the correct function of a device or product, commonly referred to as a device under test (“DUT”) in testing parlance. The plurality of tests is typically part of a test plan that is loaded into the ATE system by the user. The test plan acts as a blueprint for running the tests on the DUTs. The plurality of tests may be compiled in a test flow wherein the test flow may be separated into different test groups which contain one or more tests for testing the device or product. For example, a semiconductor device may be tested with a test flow comprising contact tests, current-voltage tests, logic tests, speed tests, stress tests and functional tests.
In a typical ATE system, users can develop test classes for a given test plan by using an application programming interface. When the test plan is loaded, the ATE system controller conducts a validation analysis of the test classes to determine if all the nodes in the test flow can be appropriately configured according to the user's expectations. In order to validate the test plan, the ATE system controller needs a pre-header file for the test classes. The pre-header files for the respective test classes, among other things, describe the test class and its various parameters to the ATE system controller in order to perform the validation. The pre-header file is also used to generate a C++ header file for the test class itself, which provides a common definitional bridge between the test class developed by the user and the test plan developed by the test plan author.
In conventional ATE systems, creating the pre-header file is cumbersome because the user typically has to develop the program code for the pre-header file manually, which is exceedingly time consuming because the user has to learn the special format or syntax required for the pre-header file. Further, the process is error prone, as the code syntax is not user-friendly, but rather at a low machine level.